5 Big Ideas for Oakland

SPUR's recent report, "A Downtown for Everyone," proposed ideas for how Oakland, California can ride the wave of its current success by joining equity and economic development.

"Oakland’s urban center is poised to take on a more important role in the region," according to the article excerpted from the October issue of SPUR's The Urbanist magazine. "We believe that the best path forward is to plan for growth — and to shape that growth to make downtown Oakland a great place that provides benefits to all. Downtown Oakland is an opportunity to demonstrate that equity and economic growth can go hand in hand."

The post notes that Downtown Oakland has proven much more effective in attracting investment in recent years, but the neighborhood's economy is still fragile and key investments have been long neglected. To provide inspiration in the city's way forward, the report lists 30 "Big Ideas" for the city to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities of Downtown Oakland.

The article excerpts five of those ideas, all intended to help Downtown Oakland become a place that serves people from all over the city and the Bay Area. The online article includes more detail on each of these five ideas:

• Big Idea 1: Grow 50,000 more jobs in downtown and create pathways to get people into them.
• Big Idea 2: Bring 25,000 more residents to downtown at a range of incomes, and enable existing residents to remain.
• Big Idea 3: Set clear and consistent rules for growth to make downtown a better place for everyone. 
• Big Idea 4: Create inviting public spaces and streets as part of an active public realm.
• Big Idea 5: Make it easy to get to and around downtown through an expanded transportation network.